1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to vehicle safety device that protects, by a far-side airbag, a vehicle occupant who is on a side opposite a collision side, when a vehicle is involved in a side collision.
2. Description of Related Art
A safety device described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-306377 (JP 2005-306377 A) is mounted on a side portion on a vehicle inside of a seatback of a vehicle seat. The safety device is provided with an airbag (a far-side airbag) that inflates and deploys next to (to a side of) a vehicle occupant by gas generated by a gas generator. One end of a tension strap is connected to a front end of this far-side airbag. Also, the other end of the tension strap is connected to a center portion, in a seat width direction, of a front portion of the seatback. This tension strap supports the far-side airbag by receiving tension when the vehicle occupant strikes the far-side airbag due to the impact of a side collision. As a result, lateral (sideways) movement of the far-side airbag is prevented or reduced.
In a vehicle safety device such as that described above, the tension strap expands between the front end of the far-side airbag and the center portion, in the seat width direction, of the front portion of the seatback, by the far-side airbag inflating and deploying. If at this time the vehicle occupant that is leaning against the seatback strikes the tension strap, pull force (tensile force) from the tension strap toward the inside in the seat width direction will be applied to the front end of the far-side airbag. In such a case, the deployment direction of the far-side airbag will end up bending toward the inside in the seat width direction, and as a result, the occupant restraint performance by the far-side airbag may be adversely affected.